I'm on the way back to America soon and therefore the vehicle will need to be registered someplace. What is my best bet on registering a vehicle (state) to have the LEAST tax or no vehicle sales tax at all.

It would probably be a state with no sales tax at all. I know the closest to me would be Delaware and New Hampshire. I don't think Florida charges property tax on cars. I pay like $600+ a year in CT on top of the 6% sales tax (based on lease payment, not purchase price).

__________________

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Bimmerpost.

are you virtually looking for a place to live? Otherwise you're not going to be able to arbitrarily chose a state to register the car. You have to have a permanent address (and id) in the state to register there.

Virginia is killing me with all this tax...3% sales tax, and then almost 4.25% property tax every year on what your car is worth here in fairfax county...they valued my car more than what i bought it for... did you use to live here?

you might have to do a bit of research to figure out which states you can get out of sales tax as I'm assuming you paid sales tax in Germany.

for example, i THINK in PA if you paid 'sales' tax in germany, and have documentation to prove it, you can register it in PA and not have to pay any taxes

Which is why CA doesn't call it a 'sales tax' when you register a car from out-of-state. They call it 'use tax', which just happens to be at the same rate as sales tax. But, if you've owned the car for more than a year, you don't pay the use tax.

Here's an excerpt from the CA DMV website:

**************************************************
Fees that may be due

The amount of fees that may be due depends on a variety of factors. An exact amount can only be calculated when you submit your application to the department. For an estimate, you may use the online Vehicle Registration Fee Calculator. The type of fees collected are:

* Registration Fee : Collected on the majority of on-highway vehicles to offset DMV costs.
* Reflectorized License Plate Fee: Collected to cover license plate issuance.
* California Highway Patrol Fee: (CHP) Collected to offset CHP costs.
* County Fees: Vary by county. Collected at the request of your California county of residence for special programs.
* Vehicle License Fee (VLF): Based on the value of your vehicle as determined by the Certificate of Cost or Bill of Sale. (Disabled Veterans and Nonresident military personnel stationed in California may apply for a military exemption from the VLF on vehicles they register in California.)
* Permanent Trailer Identification (PTI) Original Fee: All trailers, except trailer coaches and park trailers, are under the PTI program. PTI trailers are not subject to registration, CHP, county, and vehicle license fees. PTI trailers pay an original fee and then a service fee every five years for renewal.
* Weight Fee: Assessed on pickups with an unladen weight of 8,000 lbs. or less, and commercial motor vehicles with gross operating weight under 10,001 lbs. This fee is based on the empty or unladen weight.
* Commercial Vehicle Registration Act (CVRA) Fee: Assessed on commercial motor vehicles with an operating weight of 10,001 lbs. or more (and including pickups with an unladen weight of 8,001 lbs. or more). This fee is based on the motor vehicle gross vehicle weight (GVW) or combined gross vehicle weight (CGVW). Tow trucks used to assist the motoring public to tow or carry impounded vehicles are subject to CVRA fees. The tow truck’s declared weight is based on its gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), not a combined gross vehicle weight.
* Cargo Theft Interdiction Program (CTIP) Fee: Commercial motor vehicles operating at 10,001 lbs. or more are assessed a CTIP fee. This fee is not due for pickups, tow trucks, or vehicles for hire used solely to transport people. It is used by the CHP to recover stolen cargo and promote security for commercially registered vehicles.
* Use Tax: Collected at the same rate as your California city of residence sales tax. Legislation requires payment of use tax on a vehicle purchased outside California and brought into California within 365 days of the purchase date.
* Nonresident Service Fee: Collected on vehicles and vessels other than PTI trailers and Special Equipment.
* Penalties: Assessed when fees for a nonresident vehicle are not paid within 20 days of the date they became due. PTI trailers are only assessed late use tax penalties.

Which is why CA doesn't call it a 'sales tax' when you register a car from out-of-state. They call it 'use tax', which just happens to be at the same rate as sales tax. But, if you've owned the car for more than a year, you don't pay the use tax.

All states who have sales taxes also have what is known as use tax which is applied to anything which you do not buy in that state or from a company who has a business entity in the state. If your state has a sales tax, then anything and everything you buy over the internet you are required by state law to pay the use tax on those items. No one does and this is what got many states pissed off and why they been trying to lobby for a federal sales tax that all online retailers would have to collect and pay to your home state.

Anyway, to the op, whether you pay a sales tax or use tax on a car, could depend on a number of things. Some states will make you pay it if the car has been bought in the last 6 months, they assume you bought it elsewhere to avoid the tax, unless like it was pointed out you can show you paid a sales tax in another location. However, if you owned the car for a period of time you can pretty much can go into any state and register without having to pay any sales tax. This does not mean you will not have to pay a registration tax like VA and CA have.

As Freakazoid pointed out, you could register the car in PA if it older than 6 month and you were not a prior resident and not pay the sales tax, and the registration fee is only $36 a year and that is all you pay in PA. As with PA many states will look at where you were a resident when the car was purchase to determine if any sales or use tax is paid.

As long as the one of the following 2 is good, you shouldn't have any taxes in MD:
1. You can use a German title and just register it.
2. You can converta German title to a MD title without paying anything (out of country would be my question).

Are you in the military or a federal employee? If you're in you should be able to fill out a tax exemption form if you're not a current resident of the state your moving to. I'm not sure if it applies to federal employee's.

If not register it in Ohio if you can. There's no "property tax" and registration with tax was $70, but I was tax exempted so I paid $35 for registration only.

When you get to MD, you have 60 days to register, or else you face "penalties" if you try to register after that. MD charges a 6% excise tax even if you've already paid taxes (f--k that).

If you plan on remaining active duty, then do this:

Prepare for South Dakota residency. You will have to pay a tax, but it's low (3%) and based off the difference if you traded in an old vehicle. You will pay 3% on the used car value if the car is used (NADA values used by SD).

Residency is easy and takes one day. mydakotaddress.com

You will never have a state tax ever again. Read this for Maryland law: "If you are a legal resident of Maryland and serving in the military, you must file a resident Maryland tax return, regardless of where you are stationed. You must also report all of your taxable income from all sources, including military pay." Can you believe that? Why pay state tax if you're not even in the state? Stupid. When you PCS from MD, and have SD residency, then you won't pay state tax. Save some $$$

You will have a SD license plate in MD, but you're good as long as you're active military.

__________________

You will never be as complex as the strand of hair sitting on top of your head.